His Ghost
by marquis
Summary: AU. Same story. A boy with a pet ghost gets a second chance. I just changed the title and made some slight alterations.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: All characters not mine. As they say… Love 'em but dun own 'em

I suppose it should bother me…I suppose I should care… I suppose I should be a little depressed… but it's hard being depressed or sad or lonely… it takes work and time and effort and the ability to feel, all of which I don't (or claim not to) have.

          I suppose I should care… but I don't

          So what? So he's dead, what has that got to do with me?

          _It's your fault…_

No it's not 

_Yes, it is… it's always your fault… everyone and everything you've ever cared for is dead…all because of you…_

If you look at it from a certain point of view I suppose you have a point but…hey, it still doesn't bother me because I lost the ability to feel a long time ago. I never will and I never can care about anything… at least not anymore…

          "What are you doing?" 

          _"What does it look like I'm doing?"_

          "It looks like you're milking a cow"

          _"I am milking a cow"_

          "You haven't the vaguest idea how strange that sounds coming from a Ghost"

          _"I suppose I must look peculiar"_

          "You should see the cow"

          If you were to see the man talking right now you would find him face to face with a disgruntled looking cow, in the middle of a run down barn, in a small town called Shohoku in a place called Kanagawa, Japan.

 If you were to look closer, with your mind and soul's eye, you would see a man talking to a smiling Ghost milking a disgruntled looking cow, in the middle of a run down barn, in a small town called Shohoku, in a place called Kanagawa, Japan.

The young man, sometimes called Kaede but most of the time called Rukawa, was a strange farmer. Preferring to keep apple orchards and strawberry fields instead of the usual corn and rice fields found in these parts… he was thought of as odd but despite his oddities he was a very popular boy in town, mostly because of his looks… ice blue eyes, coal black hair and skin that never seemed to tan even after hours of hard work under the sun. He was practically worshipped by the women of the town but he never seemed to notice them even when they threw themselves at his feet.

"I think I'm going to sell this cow." Rukawa Kaede told his Ghost, leaning against the rickety brown stall.

"Oh really? Why? It's such a pretty thing" 

"I need the barn space for a new horse"

"Why are you getting a new horse? Isn't Ol' Hanamichi good enough for you?" 

"That stupid do'aho threw me off again yesterday. I need a horse I can actually ride."

_" hehehe … stick to growing apples Kaede, and leave taming horses to the professionals"_

"Shut up"Rukawa Kaede threw his Ghost a rare smile. 

He watched his Ghost milking the cow and wondered idly if his Ghost used to own a cow back when he was alive. _Maybe my Ghost used to be a farmer too… _Rukawa Kaede mulled, and started to ask his happily whistling friend if he had ever milked a cow when he was alive. But then he remembered that whenever he started asking his Ghost about his past life the Ghost would just pull his disappearing act and give him some lame excuse. 

He's in such a good mood today, Rukawa Kaede thought, I won't ask him any uncomfortable questions… at least not yet.

Suddenly, mid-milking his Ghost suddenly stopped and looked up with a frown of concentration on his translucent, normally carefree face.

"What is it?" Rukawa Kaede asked.

_"Whoops, gotta go someone's coming!_" his Ghost said and, in a sudden wisp of wind, was gone. 

Leaving the cow in a rather compromising position.

Snorting lightly at his Ghost's sudden departure, Rukawa Kaede fixed the estranged animal and tried to make it comfortable then he closed the old stall, walked out of his barn and locked the doors shut behind him. He walked up the rocky path to the back door of his small red and black cottage wondering where his Ghost disappeared to. 

I wonder who it is. Rukawa Kaede thought. It isn't time for my apple shipment yet so it can't be Watari… probably just another door-to-door salesman.

His Ghost always seemed to know when visitors arrive, which is a pretty handy talent since it wouldn't be good for business to be seen talking to his Ghost… even though most people nowadays were more tolerant of Ghosts, some still harbored ill feelings towards the 'you-know-whats', as Ghosts are commonly called. 

He entered his back door and wove through his tiny kitchen, filled with jars of strawberry preserves, and through his adjoining living room, a bit warm because of the heat of summer but cozy nonetheless. He stood before his front door and tried looking through thru the peephole but saw nothing but black so he unlocked it and opened it.

He swung his front door open to a very familiar, a very unwanted and a very unexpected face... Sendoh Akira. What is HE doing here? Rukawa Kaede thought, instantly irritated.

_"Sendoh Akira…_ _well, well, well there's a person we haven't seen in a while"_ his Ghost's voice drifted down to his mind, tickling his thoughts uncomfortably.

Blue-eyed, black haired and wearing a perpetual smile of carefully feigned good humor… still the same Sendoh Akira Rukawa remembered from high school.

Sendoh Akira was an old school mate of Rukawa Kaede. They used to be in the high school basketball team together and were sometimes called rivals. Rukawa Kaede was always more ambitious and devoted than him but Sendoh had more of a natural gift for the game. And… well… to make a long story short… when Sendoh left their small town on a basketball scholarship (a basketball scholarship that Rukawa Kaede really wanted) they did not part on the best of terms. 

And right now, with Sendoh all dressed up in a snazzy suit, a new freaky looking hairstyle and smelling vaguely of rotten rose bushes, and with Rukawa Kaede in well worn jeans and his everyday, checkered, button down workshirt and smelling of unwashed cow… Rukawa Kaede was definitely not in the mood to see the man who had stolen his dream.

Sendoh smiled, no smirked at his former rival's disheveled appearance.          

"Hello Kaede. How have you been?"

A/N: I altered it a bit hope you like it!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: SD not mine

"What are you doing here?" Rukawa Kaede asked his onetime rival, his voice calm and unemotional.

                   "Now, now Kaede is that anyway to treat an old team mate?" Sendoh asked Kaede, marveling at the person in front of him. Gone was the boyish teammate he loved to tease and play with, and in his place stood a man who knew what blows life can give you when you let your guard down, even for a second.  

                   Meanwhile Kaede was contemplating whether to be polite or just slam the door in Sendoh's face.

                   "I've come about basketball." Sendoh said cheerfully smiling an, oh, so familiar smile.

          _"Slam the door in his face Kaede, that idiot just wants to add salt to your wounds." _his Ghost's voice carried into his mind again. _"Just tell him he's not wanted here. The bastard ruined your life, it's not like you have to be polite. "_

          Apparently though, while Kaede was listening to his Ghost, Sendoh decided to invite himself in.

                   "Lovely home you've got here Kaede" He remarked, walking through the small brown front door.

                   "Oi!" Kaede said, surprised at Sendoh's brashness. "I didn't say you could come in. Get out." He told Sendoh coldly, gripping the taller man's arm as he tried to go into his living room.

                   Sendoh whirled around and faced Kaede, still grinning innocently "Okay we can talk outside if that's what you want."

                   "Don't be an idiot. I don't want to talk to you. Ever." Rukawa crossed his arms across his chest and glared at Sendoh, making sure the smiling man got the message that he was unwanted here. "Go away" Kaede insisted.

                   Sendoh inwardly sighed. "I forgot that you were like this" he smiled ruefully, leaning against the living room doorframe "You like things straight and to the point"

                   Kaede lifted a black eyebrow as if to tell the other man 'who cares?' 

                   Sendoh chuckled at the action and sighed again, this time seeming to loose some of that carefree attitude he surrounded himself with. " I'm with the Ryonan City basketball team now" 

Kaede didn't seem to show any feeling toward this information so Sendoh continued "We lost our small forward to the Kainan City team and we're scouting for new players." 

Still no reaction from Kaede so Sendoh felt it safe to kept talking "As soon as they said we needed players I came out here to try to convince you to play. I know it's always been your dream to play pro ball and now you have a shot." Was that a surprised look on Kaede's face? 

Encouraged, Sendoh continued to plead " Please Kaede, you love basketball more than anyone else in this world. Come to Ryonan City and play again." Sendoh said begging the man with his eyes and knowing he could win because Rukawa Kaede loved basketball more than anything and anyone in this world. 

          _A chance to play again.  _Rukawa thought wildly, his face showed no emotion, still the usual mask of cold unconcern but his mind alight with hope and possibility._ I can play again…I can play basketball again … BASKETBALL …My dream can come true! I can play again!_ _I can play! _Genuine happiness seemed to spread through him making a small imperceptible smile come to his lips, until…

_"Are you going to trust him !? The man who stole your scholarship!? The man who stole your dream? The man who left rotting you here in the first place? I can't believe you! You can't trust him!! He's just setting you up to have you crushed again!! He just wants you to go there to see that **he** made it and **you** didn't"_ Rukawa jerked up suddenly from the sheer force and hostility of his Ghost's voice in his mind. He grabbed his head and doubled over in shock and pain. It hurt.

          _"He'll make you clean floors, wash towels, shine his rubber shoes. That's the work he'll make you do! He'll be too afraid of the competition to let you play! Do Not Listen to him! Kaede!"_ Rukawa's Ghost's panic hammered through his brain.     

"Kaede are you alright?" Sendoh approached him, alarmed and concerned at Rukawa's sudden movement.

          But Rukawa didn't hear him…all he could hear was the voice of his Ghost telling him, screaming at him to stop. think. don't trust Sendoh. Don't trust the man who ruined you life. Don't trust anyone but me…

                   A face flashed before his eyes and a scene seemed to come alive in his mind… 

                   A redheaded man in a basketball jersey…

                   _My Ghost?_

And words… talking and muttering and then screaming. The redheaded man seemed…scared? A man approaching the redhead, then… a basketball? What?      

                   _"Don't trust him" _his Ghost's voice seemed to echo across his mind…

_                   Who?_

_                   "HIM!"_

_                   Who?!?!_

_                   "The man who…who… killed me"_     

…and then all went dark.

A/N: I cleared some stuff up. I think it's more understandable this way… What do you guys think?


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: SD still not mine

A/N: This is Kaede's POV 

I'm floating

                   _"Baka, you're not floating"_

I'm flying?

                    "_Nope"_

What happened?

_" You fainted and… it… it was my fault…I'm sorry, Kaede, it won't happen again"_

How?

                   _"Sigh. I'll explain later, Kaede, just wake up, Wake up Kaede--"_

"--Wake up Kaede, Wake up."a vaguely familiar voice was saying insistently in my ear. The owner of that voice was probably the one shaking my shoulders. My Ghost? No. Sendoh.

                   I blink my eyes open. Okay, I see my living room ceiling. Normal. 

I must be lying on my couch…

                   "Kaede. It's good to see you're still alive. You scared me for a sec."

I blink my eyes some more. Turn my head. Okay, I see Sendoh Akira …_The man who killed me… _Killed who? Sendoh killed someone?

"What?" I ask, shocked into speaking after recalling those words. _Killed me?_ Killed my Ghost?

                   I try to get up off my living room couch. How did I get here? I wonder. I struggle to stand and found two strong hands pushing me back down. I look up into serious eyes.

                        "Kaede. Sit down." Sendoh ordered me and I immediately complied after a wave of dizziness came over me. My legs buckled of their own accord but I didn't break eye contact with Sendoh, looking deep into pools of blue, eyes without a trace of malice in them. Kind eyes, gentle.

_The man who killed me._ I heard the echo again. How? How can that be possible? Sendoh was a liar and a thief but… a killer?

"What happened?" I asked tiredly, lying back down and holding my damp palm against my forehead. My head aches. I'm so confused. First I get the best news of my entire life… I can play basketball again! … then, next thing I know, my Ghost is accusing Sendoh of murder. I'm so confused.

"You fainted" Sendoh said as he sat down on the coffee table across from me. "I carried you here and tried to wake you up. You must have been unconscious for at least five minutes" 

"Five minutes?" I ask him. That long? "Are you sure?" It seemed like only a second.

"Yes-" Sendoh began but another voice entered my thoughts…

_"Yes. Five minutes. Kaede ,hurry up! You have to get him out of here so I can talk to you. It's very important. Tell him to come back later! Come on!!!" _my Ghosts voice filled my head again, blocking out whatever Sendoh's reply was.

He can be so irritating sometimes.

The dull throb returned to my mind and I knew that my Ghost was getting impatient. Do'aho.

"-was really worried" Sendoh continued, oblivious to the fact I was not listening.

"Get out" I tell him. "Just go."

Sendoh stopped his tirade abruptly and looked at me strangely. "What?" he asks.

"I have to… think about… playing again... To consider the…terms" I tell him, lying through my teeth. I don't have to think about basketball. I'd do anything to play again._ I have to make sure you won't stab me in the back, literally.  _

Sendoh looked at me silently, like he wanted to read my thoughts. I stare back at him, shivering slightly despite the heat. _Go away… I'm so confused…I need to talk to my Ghost!_

"Alright Kaede. I'll go, but I'll be back soon" Sendoh said. He probably sensed the importance of ...this thing. He stood up from the coffee table and stared down at me for a second, a flicker of emotion flashing through his eyes before his patented grin flashed. "I'll see myself out"

I look to the floor until I hear my front door close softly. I sigh without knowing why. I am so confused. Sendoh can't be a killer. I want to play ball. I don't want to play ball with my Ghost's killer. Sendoh isn't a killer. Sendoh isn't my Ghosts killer. Is he? Dammit my head hurts.

_"Kaede."_

Looking up from my introspection abruptly I see my Ghost sitting in the same place Sendoh sat, in front of me on the coffee table. I couldn't help comparing my Ghosts translucent skin and blurred features to Sendoh's tanned body and… Sedoh's zest for life. They were so different.

_"Kaede! Stop staring into space and listen to me!"_

"Do'aho, you nearly killed me." I tell him matter-of-factly, choosing to ignore the throbbing in my head.

"Don't be so melodramatic…it was…an accident" my Ghost looked fairly uncertain about this so I raised my eyebrow skeptically. 

"Tell me what happened. Now." I tell him sternly. "I want to know who that redheaded man is." Oddly enough I feel this is important.

_"was."_

"What?" I ask confused.

_"Who that redheaded man **was.** He's dead."_

"Oh. So who was he?"

_"He was a genius… a basketball genius."_

_"His name was Sakuragi. He was my father." _ 

A/N: Sorry. I know the chapters are short and I'll try to make the next one longer! Please review! 

P.S. I also love cliffhangers so expect a lot of 'em


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